The Lionville Youth Association’s 12-and-under baseball team is on the doorstep of making history, as they now find themselves two wins away from doing something truly incredible, qualifying for the Little League World Series in Williamsport.

Not many Chester County teams over the years have even come close to making it as far as Lionville already has, and understandably the area youngsters are creating quite a buzz because of their success, not only in their home town but also the entire Philadelphia area as well.

They’ve been featured on the local news, have been mentioned on the air during a recent Phillies game, and have also been discussed on SportsRadio 94WIP.

Heck, if they keep this up, they most likely will become little rock stars.

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This afternoon, Lionville will attempt to inch one step closer to the Little League World Series when they play live on ESPN at 3 p.m. against Berlin (Md.) in the semifinals of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Tournament in Bristol, Conn.

If Lionville wins today, they will advance to the Mid-Atlantic championship game on Sunday (6 p.m., ESPN2) against either Newark (Del.) or Capital City (D.C.), where the winner of that game will punch their ticket to the Little League World Series in Williamsport from Aug. 16 to 25.

“We’re all on cloud nine right now,” said Lionville head coach Steve Jewett. “I’m superstitious so I don’t like to look ahead, but it’s hard not to think about making it to Williamsport at this point. It would be absolutely huge if we did, and it would certainly be gigantic for the community.

“I don’t think the kids realize how big what they’re doing is. They don’t realize what is going on back home. They saw all the TV cameras rolling in (yesterday) and it kind of hit them that they’re about to be going onto a different stage than they ever could’ve imagined. I think that was their first taste of how big this is.”

Lionville won the Pennsylvania state championship on July 26 by beating Ridley, 12-7, in the state title game in Bradford. By doing so they qualified for the Mid-Atlantic Regional Tournament in Bristol, Conn., where they’ve spent the last week.

There, they are competing against four other state champions representing Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland and New York, along with the District of Columbia champion as well.

Lionville is a perfect 4-0 in the Mid-Atlantic Regional so far following the completion of pool play. Their strong play earned them the No. 1 seed in the semifinal round, and a matchup against No. 4 Berlin (Md.) today, who they already defeated by a score of 2-0 this past Tuesday.

“We’ve played four games already and ended up as the No. 1 seed, but that’s all erased now, as the tournament goes into single-elimination,” said Jewett. “When we played Berlin the first time it was a heavyweight battle, and I don’t expect anything different .”

Lionville catches a break this afternoon, as Berlin’s top pitcher Tristan McDonough, who threw a great game against them in the first meeting, is not allowed to take the mound after reaching the maximum pitch count of 85 pitches earlier in the tournament.

On the hill for Lionville today will be Connor Kalten, who went 2-for-3 with a home run in the 2-0 victory over Berlin three days ago. In that meeting, Joseph Janick and Michael Rodriguez teamed up to pitch a three-hit shutout.

Lionville’s other three wins in the Mid-Atlantic Regional Tournament are: 7-5 over Burnt Hills Ballston Lake (N.Y.) last Saturday; 8-4 over Capital City (D.C.) on Sunday; and 2-1 over East Greenwich (N.J.) on Wednesday.

Yesterday was an off day for Lionville, at least from playing baseball. On Thursday at 10 a.m. the team got into their uniforms and taped little segments for ESPN where each player faced the camera and said their name and favorite professional player for example.

“The boys were really hamming it up for the cameras,” said Jewett. “They are very loose, and they understand what they need to do on the field. It’s a humble group that seems to be unfazed so far by all the attention.

“It’s my job to keep them in check and keep hammering home to them that the field is still going to be the same size (today) and we are still going to play six innings. I don’t think the team we’re playing has ever been on TV before either, so it’s a level playing field.”

ESPN’s Karl Ravech and Chris Burke will announce the game this afternoon. On Thursday, they met with the Lionville coaching staff to discuss each of their players.

Lionville’s players have been staying in dorms all week with the other teams competing in the tournament. The players’ parents are staying at nearby hotels, meanwhile.

“The kids are having a blast and enjoying themselves in the dorms,” said Jewett. “They are mingling with the other teams making new friends, playing video games and stuff like that in their down time.

“The parents are about as excited as can be also. They are living the dream through their kids. Since we were off (yesterday), we had the parents spend some time with their kids to help relieve some of the tension, and I think that really worked out well.”

There are 12 players on Lionville’s team. One of them is coach Jewett’s son, Scott. There are also brothers on the squad, Jack and Ethan Waldbuesser.

A total of 11 out of the 12 team members attend Lionville Middle School in the Downingtown School District. Seven of them will be going into the eighth grade this year.

So how exactly did Lionville get to where they are?

After the completion of the Lionville Youth Association’s regular season earlier this summer, an all-star team was formed out of the best 11- and 12-year-old players.

That team has gone 15-0 overall so far in the post-season. They started out by winning districts, then sectionals, and then states. Now here they are in the Mid-Atlantic Regional only two wins away from qualifying for the Little League World Series.

“These kids have been together for four years,” said Jewett, who is in his second year coaching the squad and 10th year overall coaching in the L.Y.A. “These kids are pretty much around each other throughout the year. We have a travel team, the Lionville Bulldogs, that I coach, and we start practice in January. We usually play through October and then take November and December off, so these kids put in a lot of time and are serious about baseball.”

Lionville can be an explosive offensive team, but so far in the Mid-Atlantic Regional they have relied on good old-fashioned pitching and defense.

They have thrown six different pitchers in the tournament up to this point, and have allowed a total of 10 runs, the fewest in the tournament. They have also committed only three errors in four games.

“It’s a very cohesive group, and all 12 players contribute in various ways,” said Jewett. “A lot of the kids can play multiple positions in big games and feel comfortable. Although pitching and defense has been big for us so far, we have a powerful hitting lineup and I’m just waiting for our offense to erupt. Hopefully it happens (today).”

Win or lose this weekend in Bristol, Conn., what Lionville has already accomplished is something special. The memories they’ve created along the way are just as meaningful.

“The most important thing is the kids are having fun,” said Jewett. “We play in one of the largest regions in the country, and we are one of the last few teams left standing, so it’s pretty impressive what these kids are doing.”